Events Calendar

NZILA members are invited to the SoLA (School of Landscape Architecture at Lincoln University) seminar series that comprises a range of expert-led talks that are scheduled throughout semesters. The intention is to bring insights from practitioners, researchers, and community partners for discourse across cultural, environmental, and practical dimensions in landscape architecture.

The upcoming seminar is presented by Megan Walker from Boffa Miskell

This presentation will explore how landscape and cultural narratives have shaped the redesign of Omokihi (South Library). Historically, the site formed part of an extensive wetland within the Opäwaho catchment. Originally known as Wai Mökihi, the area was a place where mökihi were constructed and used for short journeys along the river. There was once a strong relationship between the river and its surrounding landscape, however, through urbanisation, the river was channelised, the water quality degraded and the banks constrained by roads. Despite the former library sitting in a generous bend of the Opawaho, it felt disconnected from the river context, separated by a disused roadway and turning its back to the water. Working in collaboration with Whitiora, the team established a landscape and cultural narrative that guided key design moves-aiming not only to visually express cultural values, but to fundamentally shift how the site is experienced, reconnecting the library with the river, the landscape and cultural context.